PLEASE NOTE: We’re currently starting to put together our usual coverage for over the Christmas and New Year break, including a review of the year and preview of 2016. But we’ll also need lots of Reader’s Features to go up during the same period, so if you’ve thought of writing one but not quite got round to it now would be a great time. We’ll also need them for the usual weekend slots, so please indicate if you’re happy for us to use it in either capacity when you send yours in.

Instant dismissal

Oh GC you wags. No I don’t hate the game (Final Fantasy VII), I hate the move to non-turn-based fighting. Surely I made that clear. I even stated that I hoped I was wrong. You guys are a bit knee jerk these days. Must be all the Christmas rush pressure you are under to get out all those reviews.

All I was saying that it looks too much like the current games in the series and I don’t like those so it would make sense that, after that trailer and how it presented the game, I would have at least reservations about the remake or more like re-imagining of a classic game.

After watching a re-imaging of RoboCop I am very wary of these moves. Either remake it using modern technology to improve the graphics but leave the game play alone. It worked very well for Resident Evil.bobwallett

GC: Well, you did say you hated it, after only seeing the first teaser trailer. If we overreacted it’s because we’ve had a lot of letters in like that lately, that seem to treat the whole thing as some carefully constructed conspiracy to upset fans. Square Enix has claimed there are still turn-based elements to it and frankly we’re reassured by the news that it will be a multi-part release. There was no way they were going to do the whole thing justice on a normal budget and keep it the same size and level of interactivity as the original.

Apples and oranges

This nonsense about Final Fantasy VII being too large for one game is absurd. I’ve played through Final Fantasy VII, so I’m not making baseless judgements here, and I find it hard to believe that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt can fit in one game but Final Fantasy VII can’t.

This is just Square Enix wanting as much money as soon as possible. Nothing more.ar1speedboy

Spend money to make money

I hope all this stuff about the NX is true because that really does sound like a genuinely innovative and interesting idea, much better than some lame new controller just for the sake of it. It does sound pretty expensive though, from a company whose biggest problem has always been that it doesn’t like spending money.

I can’t help thinking that Nintendo will end up doing the idea first and then Microsoft and Sony will immediately end up copying it, and inevitably doing it better because of their bigger pockets. It’s basically what happens every time Nintendo invents something, so you can’t blame them for being secretive.Hagrid

Le bargain

Bargain alert. Anyone looking to buy Disney Infinity 3.0 figures for their little ones this Christmas, Amazon France have a great deal on at the moment, where if you buy six 3.0 figures, you can enter a code to get 40 euros off. I’ve just bought Darth Vader, Yoda, Chewbacca, Spot (The Good Dinosaur), Disgust and Sadness (Inside Out) for less than £30 including postage.

Which is around £4.50 – £5 per figure, less than half the current UK retail price. I’ve ordered from Amazon France before, and the items are posted from the UK depot. Just use Google Chrome and translate to English and enter your UK login details to order. Full details are here.Cubes (PSN ID)/Cubes73 (NN ID/Steam ID)/Kevin M

Speak up

Just thought I would write in to say that I’m enjoying Rainbow Six Siege on Xbox One but would like to be playing with some fellow readers. I’m not normally one for using headsets but am willing to give it go for this game, as I think it’s got some great potential.

So any readers wanting some multiplayer action add me.RogueTr00per82 (gamertag)
PS: Thanks to the reader who recommended Prune, I took a punt and it’s a really enjoyable little game.

Charity record

A trio of game developers, including myself, have collaborated to write, produce and create artwork for an original Christmas song.

The intention was to get a Christmas song which was actually about Christmas into the charts, with the ultimate goal of obtaining Christmas number one; due to the last time an actual Christmas song having done that being over a decade ago!

The artwork for the song will no doubt set nostalgic butterflies free inside many a gamer, giving them that warm glow of Christmas mornings past and present, with plenty of subtle gaming references thrown in for good measure. Be sure to point out any you see.

We want to donate some proceeds from sales of Christmas Is Here to an apt charity, which we want the fans to vote for on the Facebook page soon. Current ideas are Special Effect, GamesAid or another worthy charity.

The song is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Xbox Music, Spotify, SoundCloud and a host of other digital services.

I’m sure GameCentral and the great readership will give it a listen, add it to any festive playlists and hopefully like it enough to share the festive cheer.

Be sure to let us know what you think and merry Christmas one and all!Paul Conry

Rocking videos

At the weekend I watched several great retro console guides by a bloke on YouTube called Metal Jesus Rocks. Here’s a link to his Xbox video.

I was wondering which YouTube channels other readers watch and subscribe to. OK, the quality of these videos is variable but some are great and the creators really put a lot of effort into them.

I think there’s something reassuringly honest about seeing an ordinary member of the public talk about a console and its games.

More importantly an undecided buyer can see how a machine or a game plays before parting with their cash.msv858 (Twitter)

The Nintendo style

So it seems then that I will be leaving 2015 as I entered it, in gaming terms at least; namely playing my Wii U. I bought my Wii U in January this year and it came bundled with Mario Kart 8. This weekend alone I have sunk about 25 hours into Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Granted the Wii U has bookended a year filled with plenty of PlayStation 4, but even notwithstanding Xenoblade, Mario Kart has always retained its draw, and something tells me I’ll still be playing it next year, and possibly beyond. From time to time anyway.

Taking note of some the Inbox theorising about the NX when, where and how. I kind of hope that it’s still some distance away, and I tend to fall towards a theory (or a hope) of Nintendo announcing something at E3 2016 and then releasing something mid/late 2017. Either way it still illustrates a short lifespan picture for the Wii U. Shame really as its a good little console.

It both amuses and frustrates me at times when people comment on the underpowered spec of the Wii U. I cant disagree with the technical specs argument, but look at the two games mentioned already as examples of what has been achieved. Mario Kart 8’s gameplay is beyond question, but the graphics alone absolutely hold there own against anything else out there. Not because they are better or worse than Project CARS, but because they have a distinctive artistic style (the Nintendo style) that have been constructed very well around quality gameplay. Whether people consider the Nintendo style to be good or not will be subjective.

Xenoblade Chronicles X isn’t the best looking game I’ve ever seen, but technically the game is excellent, and again there is a certain artistic style to things. The quality of the actual gameplay is still under test, for me, but it’s started well.

Just as a side note, for anyone who has the physical copy make sure you log onto the eShop, where you can download four data packs (about 10 GB). They are free and improve performance further.

There are other Wii U games out there that other people will attest to, that I won’t go into. The point is therefore that never has a console held such a poor reputation, and been so badly handled by its owner, Nintendo, yet still has games with incredible longevity that end up being returned to over time.

I may sound like a Nintendo fanboy but I freely admit I have spent more time on Sony’s machine. I do however have an affection for the Wii U, whilst having somewhat mixed feelings towards the big N.

I’ll finish by saying that I take some comfort from yesterday’s news about the possible NX patent. If it pans out true it puts to bed some concerns I had about Nintendo suggesting previously that they are focusing themselves on mobile gaming. It seems from the patent that the console is still the main show, with a potential side attraction of an associated mobile platform.

Hoorah for Nintendo if it’s true.r-s-w1

GC: Although it will undoubtedly be revealed next year we wouldn’t be surprised if the NX is not actually released until 2017.

Inbox also-rans

The Game Awards
I wanted to get GC’s thoughts on The Game Awards, specifically what you’d like to see to improve it? Do you give any of these ‘award’ shows much credibility?Joe @ Dimp Digital

GC: Not really, no. The Game Awards was definitely better than some, although we don’t feel The Witcher 3 really deserved both the big two awards. One problem is everything is organised by genre, when genre labels have become largely irrelevant.

This week’s Hot Topic

The Mega Drive wasn’t the only console celebrating an important birthday last week, since of last Wednesday the Xbox 360 is now 10 years old.

So for this weekend’s Inbox we want to know what you think of Microsoft’s second console and what its best games are. Have you ever owned an Xbox 360 and if you’ve still got one which of its games do you still play?

What are your memories of the console’s unusually long lifespan and what do you feel its legacy is today? What were its most important innovations and how would you rate it against other consoles through history?